Protests Against Arrival of Blood Phosphate Ship

The Rail and Maritime
Transport Union (RMTU), representing port workers at Napier
port, has today handed a letter of protest to the captain
of a ship carrying Blood Phosphate mined in the Western
Sahara that arrived at the port this morning.

‘The ship
chartered by Ravensdown, the Federal Crimson,
carrying a cargo of blood phosphate mined in Western
Sahara and being imported into New Zealand, berthed in
Napier today, ’ said RMTU General Secretary Wayne
Butson.

‘Last month the Council of Trade Unions (CTU)
passed a resolution condemning Morocco’s illegal
occupation of Western Sahara and calling upon the New
Zealand government to halt importation of phosphates from
the area. As an affiliate to the CTU the RMTU registered our
protest meeting the captain of the vessel and handing him a
letter that included the CTU resolution, ‘ he
said.

‘The RMTU is currently negotiating with Ravensdown
and Lyttelton Port management regarding a similar protest on
the Federal Crimson’s arrival at its next port of call in
Lyttelton. ’ he said.

‘Our fellow unionists in
Australia, the Maritime Union of Australia, have used this
method to register protests against Blood Phosphate imports,
to us it seems a relatively mild and pragmatic way to
exercise a fundamental democratic right without risking
undue disruption. In fairness to Ravensdown they have been
very constructive in the dialogue we have had with them.
Whilst we fundamentally disagree about the importation of
Blood Phosphate they have been reasonable in facilitating a
lawful and safe protest, he said ’

‘We have been
advised that the cargo of the Federal Crimson may in fact be
illegal and that under international law port workers have
the right to refuse to berth or work ships carrying such
cargo. Should our reasonable requests to register our
protest in this manner be refused then we will consider our
options around refusing to berth the ship,’ he
said.

Copy of the CTU Resolution follows. Photographs of
the protest attached.

That the NZCTU

(a)
Notes that:

a. Morocco has occupied Western
Sahara since 1975,

b. The UN efforts to
accomplish the decolonisation process in Western Sahara have
not been accomplished yet,

c. Over 173,000
Saharawis have been living in refugee camps in South West of
Algeria for the past 43 years in dire conditions, waiting to
return to their homeland which is occupied by
Morocco,

d. The only just, legal and lasting
solution to the conflict in Western Sahara, is to end the
Moroccan illegal occupation and allow the Sahara people to
exercise their right to self-determination, in accordance
with the UN resolution and decolonisation
doctrine,

e. That The Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European
Parliament, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International
have all called on the UN to extend the mandate of its
mission in Western Sahara to monitor human
rights,

f. The European Union Court of
Justice and the High Court of South Africa have that Morocco
has no right to exploit Western Sahara
resources;

(b) Strongly supports the right of the
Saharawi people to self-determination and
independence;

(c) Calls on the UN to proceed
without further delay with the organisation of the long
overdue referendum of self-determination;

(d)
Condemns the gross violations of human rights in the
occupied territories of Western Sahara and calls for the
immediate release all Saharawi political
detainees;

(e) Urges the UN to expand the mandate
to its mission in Western Sahara to include human rights
monitoring;

(f) Expresses concern about the
exploitation of the natural resources of Western Sahara
without the consent of the Saharawi people and their
representatives;

(g) Urges Government
to:

a. Support the right of the Saharawi people
to self-determination and the holding of the long-delayed
referendum in accordance with UN and AU (African Union)
Peace Plan;

b. Urge the UN to include human
rights monitoring in the mandate of the UN mission in
Western Sahara (MINURSO);

c. To ensure New
Zealand companies halt imports of phosphates from the
occupied areas of Western Sahara until the legal status of
the Territory is determined and the Saharawi people are
allowed to exercise their inalienable right to
self-determination in accordance with relevant UN
resolutions and Peace Plan of 1991”

The above
Remit was passed by union affiliates at the 2019 CTU
Conference on 16 October
2019.

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